Guide rod for file drawers



Dec. 29 1925.

F. L. GQ STRAUBEL GUIDE ROD FOR FILE DRAWERS Filed Dec. 6, 1924 Patented Dec. 29, 1925.

FREDERICK L. G. STRAUBEL,

GUIDE BOD FOR Application filed. December To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK L. Gr.- STRAUBEL, citizen of the United States, residing at Green Bay, in the, county of Brown and State of Wisconsin, have in- Nented certain new and useful Improvements in a Guide Rod for File Drawers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates" to guide rods as employed in file drawers for retainin the indexing guides and the like as stored in such drawers. With the ordinary file drawer constructions which have rigidly fastened and continuously vertical drawer fronts, a rigid rod extendlng through the drawer front and through corresponding perforations in the guides or the like suflices for this purpose. The same is also true with file drawers in which the guiderod extends through a lower stationary front portion while the part of the front above this portion is hinged so that it can be tilted outward to afford more ready access to the contents of the drawer, as for example in the drawer shown in my U. S. Patent No., 799,689. However, advantages are afforded both as to appearance and construction by hinging such a drawer front so that it can be tilted bodily, as shown in my copending application #539,083, filed February 25, 1922, ona filing drawer, of which application my present application is partly a division and partly a continuation. In employing such an integral and bodily tiltable drawer front, it is impossible to use the customary guide rod or locking rod construction, as the tilt ing movement of the drawer front will not permit of this. n 4

1y present application aims to provide a rod construction particularly suited for use with suchtilting drawer fronts. More parf.

ticularly, my invention aims to provide a rod constructionfor this purpose which will permit the entire rod assembly to be removed and replaced in the usual manner, which will not have the tilting movement of the drawer front interfere with the useof such arod, which will permit the main portion of the rod to remain in its usual and entirely horizontal position regardless of the, posi-- tion of the drawer front, and which will be simp e/e s isaa easive consumer st tion,*namely one 0]? GREEN FAY, WISCONSIIL FILE DRAWERS.

6, 1924. Serial No. 754,323.

Furthermore, my invention aims to provide a file drawer including a rod and a tiltable drawer front particularly adapted for use Fig. 1 is a vertical section taken on line 1-1 of Fig. 3 longitudinally and centrally of a filing drawer through portions of the drawer, showing my guide rod or looking rod as it appears when the tiltable drawer front is-in its vertical or closure position.

Fig. 2 is a similar section, taken along the line 2--2 of Fig. 3 to show the position of one of the hinges and also showing the drawer front as outwardly tilted.

Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical section taken along the line 33 of Fig. 1 to show the general shape of the drawer and the relative positions of the hinges and the guide-locking .rod.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged vertical section through the lower portion of such a file drawer, showing this drawer front in its normal vertical osition and showing the positions of the orward portions of a rod assembly embodying my invention.

Fig. 5 is a section similar to Fig. 4, but taken when the drawer front is tilted forwardly.

showing another embodiment of my invention, namely one in which the swiveling sleeve which connects the main rod portion with the threaded attaching knob is disposed entirelyback of the drawer front.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary section similar to Fig. i but showing the-connecting sleeve as integral with the threaded knob.

Fig. 8,, is an elevation showinganother guide rod constructionembodying my invenin which the connection between the main portion of the rod and the knob is made by spiral spring. 7 -11] Figs. 1 and 2, Iain showing the forward portion of a file drawer-l such as that described in my said copending application #539,083. which drawer has a front 2 pivfeted to it on hinges 3, veachof these-hinges .bs awe ared bott m po ti n f the drawer at the forward end of the latter. Both hinges are fastened to the main portion 15 of the bottom of the drawer after the general manner shown in Fig. 3, so asto be disposed somewhat above the medial longitudinal portion 4 of the drawer which is depressed according to the customary practice in metal drawer construction to allow added room for the downwardly projecting tabs as commonly used on the guides employed in lile drawers.

Extending through the usual eyelets in the bottom tabs on such guides is a locking rod which normally is entirely horizontal and sul istantially in the same horizontal plane with the pivots of the hinges. This rod consists of a main portion 5 which is supported at or near the rear of the drawer, as for ex- :nnple by projecting through a correspondperforation in the back 6 of the drawer. The forward end of the rod is supported rom the drawer front 2, desirably by ahead threaded into 0 plates which is secured to the front of the drawer and which extends across a perforation 9 in the drawer front.

Connecting the main rod portion 5 with the head 7 is a link which permits a relative n'lovement of the said two rod portions in a vertical plane. For this purpose, I desirably provide the main rod portion 5 with an enlarged head portion 10 at its forward end and provide the threaded stem of the knob 7 at its rear end with a similar head 11. .These enlargements l0 and 11 desirably are of a diameter slightly smaller than the bore of a metal sleeve 12 which has its ends contracted (as shown in Fig. 4) after the two enlargements 10 and 11 have been slid into the opposite ends of the sleeve. However, the conracting of the ends of the sleeve is only earried to a point which leaves the bore of the sleeve considerably larger than the main rod portion 5 and larger in diameter also than the shank which is interposed between the threaded part ll. of the knobbed rod head and the enlargement 11 at the rear end of the latter. Thus arranged, the sleeve 12 forms a connecting link which affords substantially a bali-and-socket joint connecting the head 7 of the rod with the main portion 5.

hen the drawer front 2 is in its normal vertical position, the three rodparts 5, 12 and 7 all have a common horizontal axis as shown in Fig. 4. However, when the drawer front is tit-lted, as shown in Fig. 5, the head f the rod is correspondingly titlted, this bein: permitted by the link connection which n :5 then assume a slightly inclined position also shown in Fig. 5. By locating this swiveling joint so that the enlargement 10 on the main portion of the rod is substanially 1n ahnement with the pivot axis of A the hinges 3, I permit the said main portion to remain stationary during the movement of the drawer front to and from its tilted position. Con'equently, such a movement of the drawer front with respect to the drawer will not cause the rod portion 5 to exert any undue pressure on the eyes or perforations in the guide cards through which it extends. So also, by arranging the parts so that the sleeve or link 12 is substantially within the perforation 9, I avoid having this sleeve engage the contents of the drawer nearest to the drawer front, as such engagement might otherwise damage adjacent folders, cards or the like. 7

However, I do not wish to be limited to having the connecting link or sleeve entirely housed by the bore in the drawer front, or to having an exact aiinement of any particular portion of this sleeve with the common axis of the hinges which connect the drawer front to the drawer, as the relative movement per-- mitted between the sleeve and the two connected rod parts will permit the employing of my invention without requiring such an exact proportioning of the parts. 1 or example, Fig. 6 hows a tilted position of the forward parts of a locking rod constructed so that the sleeve projects to a considerable extent into the interior of the drawer. In either case, it will be obvious that by unscrewing the head 7 from the supporting plate 8, the entire rod can readily be withdrawn from the drawer and can similarly be replaced. hen the rod is being unscrewed, the connecting sleeve permits the main portion 5 of the rod to remain stationary, so that no undue friction is encountered. So also, this sleeve keeps the said main portion continuously connected to the head I. so that the entire rod can be handled as a unit.

Since the main portion of the rod continuously remains horizontal, it will be obvious that the movement of the drawer front about its hinges will not allect the normal position of this main rod portion in any manner. So also, by locating the connecting sleeve or link after the manner of Figs. l and 5, I produce the pivotal movement about this main portion substantially in alinement with the hinge axis of the drawer front, thereby preventing the tilting movement of the drawer front from having any tendency to slide the main od portion longitudinally of the iilrawcr.

However, while I have illustrated and described my invention in eml'iodiinents including certain highly desirable features, I do not wish to be limited to the details of the construction and arrangement thus disclosed, it being obvious that these might be varied in many ways without departing either from the spirit of my invention or from the appended claims.

For example, the jointing sleeve could be made integral with the head of the TZ'Od, as

the main rod portion and the shank of the head portion, after the manner of Fig. 8. In each case, it will be noted that the result is substantially the same, namely that of affording a pivotal movement between the main rod portion and the head portion of the rod substantially about the same axis with the axis of the hinges connecting the drawer front to the body of the drawer.

I claim as my invention l. A vertical filing drawer having a tiltable front, a guide rod extending through the said front longitudinally of the drawer, and a ball-and-socket joint interposed in the said rod adjacent to the drawer front.

A vertical filing drawer having a front hinged for permitting a tilting of the same, a guide rod extending through the front longitudinally of the drawer substantially in horizontal alinement with the axis of the drawer front hinging, and a swivel joint interposed in the said rod adjacent to the drawer front.

3. A vertical filing drawer having a front hinged for permitting a tilting of the same, and rude locking means extending longitudinally of the drawer in substantially the same horizontal plane with the axis of the lrawer front hinging; the said means comprising a headed member extending through the drawer front, a rod extending horizontally within the drawer, and a universal joint connecting the forward end of the headed member with the said rod.

4. The combination with a file drawer which has its front hinged to permit a forward tilting thereof, of a rod extending through the said hinged front longitudinally of the drawer, the rod comprising a main section extending horizontally within the drawer from the rear of the drawer to within the vicinity of the drawer front, a forward section extending through the drawer front, and a link connecting the said sections, the connections between the link and the said sections permitting a relative movement of the latter when the drawer front is moved into or out of its forwardly tilted position.

5. A file drawer and rod combination as per claim 4, in which the link has a swiveled connection to each of the two rod sections, so as to permit rotation of the forward rod section without rotating the main rod section. i

6. A. file drawer and rod construction as per claim 4, in which the forward rod section is threadedly connected to the drawer front and in which the connections between the link and the said sections permit the entire rod to be removed from the drawer as a unit when the forward section has been unscrewed from the drawer front.

7. The combination with a file drawer which has its front hinged to permit a forward tilting thereof, of a rod extending through the said hingedfront longitudinally of the drawer, the rod comprising a main section extending horizontally within the drawer from the rear of the latter to within the vicinity of the drawer front, a forward section extending through the drawer front, both of the said rod sections having enlargements at their adjacent ends,and a sleeve connecting the two sections and having its ends contracted over the said enlargements so as to afford a swiveling connection to each of the said rodsections.

8. The combination with a file drawer 

